Many bitcoin investors are in it for the long haul

The life of a bitcoin investor certainly has its ups and downs, based on the dramatic price swings of the cryptocurrency.

However, life is in many ways idyllic for Mark Shulgasser. His property in Long Eddy, NY, not far from the Delaware River, has a waterfall and a trout stream running through it, and he spends much of his time perusing the astrological library he maintains in his home.

But when he’s not relaxing, Shulgasser, 70, is fixed to his computer screen. After taking the plunge in 2016 and buying two bitcoins for the then exorbitant price of $600 apiece, he’s been obsessed with watching their value grow.

The value of this initial investment hit more than $22,000 last week as the quotation on the cryptocurrency soared past the record $11,000 mark.

Since then, he said he’s surpassed even this impressive return by staying glued to the computer screen and keeping abreast of other digital endeavors by monitoring Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and using his bitcoin holdings to jump in and out of other cryptos like Bitquence (BQX) and NEO, which he says is billed as the “Ethereum of China.”

So far he said he’s cashed out only about $8,000 of the proceeds. “I don’t add any cash to my account, ever,” he said, explaining that his investment strategy is one for the long haul.

Following his initial buy of the two bitcoins 16 months ago, he said he “completely ignored them until I noticed that they were worth a bit.” Now, he said, “I have to stay on top of the ICOs and all the discussion about them. I have a few holdings that I’m looking forward to blossoming.”

This long-term buy-and-hold strategy, coupled with a strong optimism, is fairly typical of the bitcoin investor — at least if you go by a survey released on Nov. 15.

Between Nov. 9 and Nov. 13, LendEDU spoke to 564 Americans invested in bitcoin and found that on average they would sell all their investment for an astounding $196,165 per coin. While a plurality of 39 percent of them said they planned to hold on to their bitcoin for one to three years, 21 percent said they are really in it for the long haul and plan to hold on for more than seven years.

“I found the results quite surprising,“ said LendEDU CEO Nate Matherson. “A full 41 percent of the investors we surveyed believe it’s a world-changing technology.”

But Ronnie Moas, an analyst who runs Standpoint Research out of Miami Beach and an unabashed bitcoin bull, said that while the price expectations revealed in the survey may be somewhat above his medium-term projections, they’re not that far out of line. “It will just take longer,” he said.

Moas raised his “split-adjusted” 2018 price target on BTC from $14,000 to $20,000 (after having recently raised it from $11,000).

“Today, the value of all bitcoin is at about $130 billion (out of $250 billion invested overall in cryptocurrencies), but the world has $8 trillion invested in gold right now,” Moas said. “An argument can be made for bitcoin to have the same valuation.”

That being said, Moas acknowledged the emotional aspect of bitcoin aficionados. “They know what they’re holding on to and they won’t sell it off for any price,” he said. “They’re like Trump supporters.”

“There’s an emotional belief in (bitcoin’s) existence and expectations are a little bit ridiculous,” he said.

Back up in the mountains, Shulgasser admitted to being infected with some of this bullish sentiment. “The true believer believes that bitcoin will be in five figures pretty soon,” he offered. “I’m a hoper.

“We are wondering whether this represents bitcoin’s potential and strength. The question is, is there going to be a correction and how difficult this will be,” Shulgasser added.